as a woman, eating alone here is kind of a pain in the ass, but i can’t really complain because the food is so great and so cheap. i actually came across this place a few days after i got here, but didn’t have my camera (that’ll teach me). i had to take a couple of deep breaths over the course of my meal, as i was in such a state of joy and disbelief. anyhow, here’s the place from the outside:
the “three” in the awning refers to the three dishes this place offers: samchi gooee, kimchi chigae and daengjang chigae. i’ve had the samchi gooee each time i’ve gone, as i loves me the fish/rice/soup/banchan old guy meal (“if we ate like this everyday, we’d live to be a hundred” sez ms. ruby), but i promise to report back on the two chigaes. and here are the goods:
did you pass out? yeah, i know. and believe it or not, all of this set me back W3,500, which, according to today’s conversion rate, is $3.69.
i also like this place because of the four ajumahs who run (and hopefully own) the place. they are all very sturdy, have the same haircut, and call each other unnee (don’t know how to romanize that), which i somehow find very cute. i’m kind of hoping they’ll adopt me instead of thinking i’m a freak for going there all the time. oh, and the banchan, from left to right: cucumber in gochujang, marinated potatoes, dried fish in a different kind of gochujang, oden (and some hot dog), kim chee, mushrooms w/ zucchini & carrots, pickled turnip & turnip stems, a pancake type thing w/ veggies. the soup was a mini daengjang chigae, a sign of good things to come.
September 29, 2006 at 3:52 pm
omigod that looks so freakin good. i’m really jealous. you’ll have to take me there. also, i’m confused as to how they can all call each other unnee. there’s no logic to that. they can’t all be older than each other.
September 29, 2006 at 10:03 pm
The photos make it obvious that were I to go to Korea, I’d have to roll out of there.
September 30, 2006 at 12:07 am
oh joy! fish, rice and pickled/marinated goodness. i know it’s random, but the concrete telephone poles remind me of the suburbs of Tokyo.
October 3, 2006 at 6:38 pm
My mouth is watering, and I just ate a big lunch.
October 10, 2006 at 8:21 am
yummm, i miss homestyle korean food. i’m hungry.
February 6, 2008 at 1:28 am
[...] i chose to have my final dinner in gwangju at the tiny restaurant i wrote about back in september 2006, ten days or so after first arriving here. i remember how amazed i was at [...]